Material for reading "The realisation of opportunities for work-life balance"
4.1. The concept of work-life balance
Work–life balance (WLB) is a satisfactory state of equilibrium between an individual’s work and private life. Enabling a better work–life balance for workers across the life course has been an EU policy goal for many years as it is central to ensuring that work is sustainable for all. It is also an important factor in determining the participation of women and older workers in the labour market (Eurofound).
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4.2. The importance of WLB measures for women’s career advancement
The implementation of the WLB measures is very important
for women’s career advancement as usual women take caring responsibilities for family members.
On 1 August 2019 the Work-life Balance Directive, which aims to improve families’ access to family leave and flexible work arrangements, has entered into European Union law.
The Work-life Balance Directive introduces a set of legislative actions designed to modernise the existing EU legal and policy frameworks, with the aims of better supporting a work-life balance for parents and carers, encouraging a more equal sharing of parental leave between men and women, and addressing women’s underrepresentation in the labour market.
Measures under the directive include:
- The introduction of paternity leave: under the directive, fathers must be able to take at least 10 working days of paternity leave around the time of birth of their child, compensated at least at the level of sick pay.
- Ensuring that two out of the four months of parental leave are non-transferable between parents and compensated at a level that is determined by the Member State.
- The introduction of carers’ leave: workers providing personal care or support to a relative will be entitled to five days of leave per year.
- Extending the right to request flexible working arrangements to carers and working parents of children up to eight years old.
As a result of these measures, the directive aims to improve not only work-life balance but also contribute to an increase in women’s employment and families’ economic stability.
Parental leave is one of the important policy measures to support parents who balance caring duties with work but it is not available to all. The Gender Equality Index 2019 shows, the problem is that in the EU, 28 % of women and 20 % of men are ineligible for parental leave. That is why the above mentioned directive obliges the Member States to: “...take the necessary measures to ensure that each worker has an individual right to parental leave of four months that is to be taken before the child reaches a specified age, up to the age of eight, to be specified by each Member State or by collective agreement.”
Access to affordable and good quality childcare services is important for work-life balance, but it is not only children who need looking after.
Aging and disability rates are rising in the EU, which pushes up demand for long-term care services for older people and people with disabilities. Women of pre-retirement age do the bulk of informal long-term caring in the EU. The difference is remarkable in the 50-64 age group: 21 % of women and 11 % of men care for older people and/or people with disabilities at least several days a week.
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4.3. Work-life measures which could be undertaken by the employer, education organisations in order to promote equal opportunities for women and men in labour market
The most usual measures for employers and education organisations to support child care are the following:
- Establishing company kindergarten (large enterprises).
- Conducting risk assessment concerning nursing mother’s safety or that of her child from her working conditions or working hours.
- Establishing a room for children for doing their homework or wait for their parents to ensure after school care for older children.
- Providing assistance during school holidays and closing times of kindergartens (camps, short-term childcare).
- Consultancy services for parents.
- Financial support for individual parents.
The most usual measures for employers and education organisations to support care for elderly and disabled dependents:
- Allowing and supporting emergency leave and short-term leave (a few days to a week) at short notice.
- Enabling carers to take long-term leave with the option to stay in contact and return to work. This could include some financial support e.g. by ‘topping up’ benefit payments while on leave.
- Allowing part-time work (reduction of hours) with an option to return to full-time work.
- Allowing flexible work-time arrangements for full-time as well as part-time workers (staggered hours, compressed working week, swapping shifts).
- Allowing home-based working (tele-working).
One of the most useful measures for WLB is the possibility to arrange the flexible working time
Common types of flexible working are:
- Flexitime: The workers work a standard core time, but can choose, within agreed limits, when to start, break and end their working day. Overtime or shortfall can be carried over.
- Staggered hours: “shift system” in which work start and finish times for staff vary to allow staff coverage (i.e. longer opening hours) for defined periods (i.e. week per week, day to day). Two existing options:
- the working time is fixed and scheduled by the employer or the head of the department;
- the working time is arranged with the employer and is ‘self-managed’ by the staff within their own department or office.
- Compressed hours: With this arrangement, the usual number of working days per week can be compressed: you can take a regular day off every week/fortnight or a regular half-day off every week, etc. by either starting early or finishing later. In both cases, the overall number of hours remains the same.
- Annualised hours / structured time off in lieu: work hours are assigned per year rather than per week and also in accordance with peaks activity or demand.
- First type: the length of the working time is per year rather than per week. Time is split into core hours to be worked each week and unallocated hours that can be used for peaks or demand.
- Second type: longer hours during periods of peak activity or business needs are agreed. These extra hours are recorded and you can then take the time off (with pay) at a less busy time.
- Job sharing: sharing a job designed for one person with someone else;
- A full-time job is divided between two similarly competent part-time workers.
- Compensation is apportioned between the workers, thus leading to a net reduction in per-employee income uptime.
- Homeworking/Teleworking: working from home implies making use of computers and other electronic devices to do work from home and communicate directly with the office base.
- Part-time: working less than the normal hours, however, there are many different patterns of part-time working. Part-time work can be organised in different ways:
- Several fixed daily working hours,
- Other fixed cycles,
- Flexible working hours on demand,
- The part-time contract can be agreed individually or (better) in collective bargaining.
4.4. Explaining the concept of the work-file balance within the family life, the importance of men’s involvement in childcare, in caring for elderly and dependent people
As mentioned in Gender Equality Strategy 2020 -2025 'Improving the work-life balance of workers is one of the ways of addressing the gender gaps in the labour market. Both parents need to feel responsible and entitled when it comes to family care. The Work-Life-Balance Directive introduces minimum standards for family leave and flexible working arrangements for workers, and promotes equal sharing of caring responsibilities between parents…’
Coaches could encourage women to use the possibilities provided by legislation and share the part of their family responsibilities with other family members. It is also important to look for the training programs providing the possibilities of flexible learning forms, flexible hours or distance learning.
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